Becoming Acquainted

This morning was a little difficult. I had gotten up around 3 AM and didn't go back to sleep till 5. I had set my alarm for 7, but when 7 o'clock came around I ended up hitting the snooze button until I decided to turn the alarm off, thinking I would get up. Nope. I feel back to sleep with the alarm clock in my hands. I finally woke up around 8:30. It's hard to get used to the time change. The class had to be downstairs at 9:20 to meet up and go to the orientation and the tour of the city. Hopefully tonight I will get a better night's rest. Tomorrow is a day off, but it will still be busy. The classroom is very nice and not too hard to get to by the train. The building where the classroom is situated is very lovely. When you walk in, you walk into a open courtyard where there is a small fountain and a statue. The classroom itself is very old and hot, but nonetheless, very pretty in architectural sense. The walls are padded with a pretty material and the molding is very elaborate. After the orientation some of students went on a quick city walk around the main downtown area. I finally found an ATM machine and got some Euros!!! I saw a Starbucks, McDonald's, and a Subway. America is still pretty much everywhere you go. That's globalization for you. After that quick 30 minute city walk, we went to this big market area called Naschmarkt, where there is a flea market and tons of little food shops. We had lunch at this one place. I shared a plate with one of the other students. We had this chicken, rice, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and some kind of dressing plate, which came with this bread where you can put that stuff in it and make a sandwich. It was very good, especially with a beer! A lot of students seem excited with the fact that they can drink because it is a lower age limit here to consume alcohol. It's not that big of a deal. After lunch we met up with the rest of the class and went on a bus tour. we mostly saw the buildings from the bus. We are encouraged to go explore the places that we see on our own. The first stop was at the Belvedere Palace ("Beautiful View"). It was very pretty and grand, especially the grand entrance. Sometime soon we will go inside the palace. The architecture was Baroque, which I did recognize due my "training" in Art History. The history of the palace was very fascinating. We went around the rest of Vienna, with our tour guide Dr. O. There is so much history here in Vienna, it is unbelievable. I can't wait to go exploring. The buildings are so fascinating because they are not just one type of style. They range from Baroque to Neo-Classical to Gothic. My Art History classes paid off after all! There are so many interesting places around Vienna. I saw the house where Franz Schubert was born, as well as the building where Freud held his office. I also got to see the Complex of the Imperial Palace, where apparently the King Tut exhibit is going on!! I had been to that exhibit in L.A. about 2 years ago. A little ways from Vienna is a place called Grinzing (not sure how it is spelled), where I saw an apartment where Beethoven had resided!! The town is also known as Beethoven Country, because he lived in so many different apartments Due to the fact that he was going deaf and the landladies wanted him to move out because he was so loud when composing. I remember that he had chopped off the legs of the piano so that the piano was closer to the ground so he could lay his head on the ground to hear the vibrations of the music. In the little town there are so many vineyards, which Vienna is well known for. We went to the top of this hill, where we could see all of Vienna. Along the way we passed through the Vienna Woods, where I saw a deer. At the top you could see the Danube, St. Stephen's Cathedral (which I learned that no other building is not allowed to be taller than the South Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral-that's why there is not any big skyscrapers.) It was overcast and rainy, so the view of Vienna was not very clear. On the way back to Vienna we saw the famous Ferris Wheel, the United Nations, and this very interesting house, which was designed by some well known artist and architecture, who was all for different shapes and sizes of windows, trees growing out of them and on top of the roof. It was very bizarre but fun to look at. After the tour of the city, we got back on the train and ran to the store for a small bit of food shopping, since the groccery stores are closed on Sundays. Tomorrow I am very excited because I will be going to the Museum of Military History. I am told there that they have the car in which Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in, which led to the start of WWI (my favorite part of WWI). I also want to go to St. Stephen's Cathedral for Mass. I am told that the boy's choir is very good and the service is really good. There is so much to do in Vienna, I'm afraid that a month won't be enough to do the things I want to do. The only situation I guess, would be to move here!